On November 8th, the musical trio Waterparks brought their Prowler tour to their hometown of Houston for a sold-out performance at the House of Blues.

Frontman Awsten Knight, joined by guitarist Geoff Wigington and drummer Otto Wood, turned the intimate venue into a sweaty, ecstatic celebration of both sound and emotion.

Alongside them were openers Jhariah, a genre-bending artist, and popular alternative indie act I Don’t Know How But They Found Me (IDKHow), who got the crowd ready for a long evening of high-energy entertainment.

The set was divided into four main sections — happiness, sadness, anticipation, and rage — with an acoustic set in between. The band proved that no one captures emotional chaos quite like they do.

After opening with heavy-hitters “Blonde” and “Sneaking Out of Heaven,” the happiness set followed. Each section was introduced with a short clip explaining the energy to come, so when this one began, Awsten Knight was already jumping across the stage, launching into fan favorites like “Stupid For You” and “Dream Boy.” The crowd erupted in screams, kicking off the night’s highly encouraged bouncing and crowd surfing.

Over the course of the concert, fans across the crowd were chosen at random to pick between two songs, making the concert both competitive and interactive as everyone hoped to hear their favorites.

Choices included “Telephone” vs. “Peach (Lobotomy),” “Gloom Boys” vs. “Not Warriors,” and “21 Questions” vs. “Lucky People.” This format allows every show to feel unique, with surprise songs featured during the acoustic portion.

Flashes of neon blue signaled the start of the sad set, which shocked fans by including “Crybaby,” quickly followed by “I Felt Younger When We Met.” The sadness was connective and created a shared moment of vulnerability through the band’s melancholic lyrics, even when it was still high in energy.

Something to note about Waterparks’ fanbase is how completely they immerse themselves in the experience, and that intimacy was especially apparent during the B-stage acoustic set.

Awsten Knight was personable and engaging throughout, even beyond the interactive song-choice moments. This part of the show included partial songs, fan requests, and plenty of laughter as he read messages from phones and responded to shouts from the crowd.

Houston’s surprise songs consisted of “Snow Globe” and “You’d Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out to Get You),” which notably made up for the absence of some Greatest Hits tracks missing from the main setlist.

The anticipation section highlighted new tracks “If Lyrics Were Confidential” and “Red Guitar,” while teasing upcoming releases “Prowler” and “Any Minute Now.”

That tension gave way to the final emotion, anger. This brought the most crowd surfing and the wildest pit of the night. The band closed out the show with “Tantrum,” along with fan favorites “Real Super Dark” and “Turbulent.”

However, another short video flashed as fans screamed for more, and the members returned to perform “Like It” as an encore. By the time the lights came up, the crowd was drenched in sweat and emotion, exhausted but ecstatic.

Waterparks succeeded in orchestrating a full-spectrum emotional experience. It was loud, funny, sad, chaotic, and absolutely unforgettable. And as their hometown crowd left with smiles, it was clear they knew exactly how to make a Houston show feel like the most unforgettable night of all.